The announcement comes after the United Nations (UN) criticised the Sri Lankan penal system for criminalising homosexuality. Nerin Pulle, Sri Lanka’s Deputy Solicitor General, has pledged to change the penal code in Sri Lanka after the country’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR). The UPR is a process where countries within the UN have their human rights records scrutinised by other UN member states. The Sri Lankan government received seven specific recommendations, which included the decriminalisation of homosexuality – which is currently punished by a maximum of 10 years in jail. Other recommendations were aimed to help combat discrimination that LGBTQ citizens face.

Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in this city expressed support to the passage of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (Sogie) Bill, which is...